Commitment to Excellence
2006 Report
Indiana University's Commitment to Excellence is a bold plan aimed at redefining the undergraduate experience. Since the program's inception in 2003, more than $22 million has been invested in new top-quality faculty, which has allowed IU Bloomington to implement undergraduate degree programs in critical areas such as Biotechnology and International Studies, and to provide scholarships and fellowships for high-achieving students and for academically meritorious students from needy families.
The fourteen Commitment to Excellence (CTE) initiatives benefit students across a wide range of disciplines, such as the Cognitive Science Initiative, which seeks to make IU a world leader in the vital study of the human mind, and the Two-Thirds World Initiative, which will enhance the Bloomington campus's existing strength in languages by adding strategically important "third world" regions to its curriculum.
In order to ensure that all students can take advantage of these exciting opportunities, the Commitment to Excellence effort has raised over $100 million in undergraduate financial aid for future Indiana University scholars.
Overview
The investments made in the first three years of the Bloomington Commitment to Excellence initiative seek to capitalize on major opportunities available to the campus to better serve our state and nation. This has been accomplished by improving the capacity of our faculty and the quality of our students while adding no administrative cost. The stakes are considerable, and not just for IU. A thriving research university undergirds the economic stability and prosperity of our state. New discoveries, extraordinary artistic talent, and new knowledge and understanding all have an influence that extends beyond geographical boundaries and across time itself.
The research, creative activity, and professional programs created by the 68 exemplary additional faculty members hired in the last three years with Bloomington CTE funding will have dramatic effects on an almost unimaginable range of human endeavors in the State of Indiana, including:
scientific discoveries that will have an enormous long-term impact on our life sciences initiative.
research and teaching that seek to provide the highest quality educational experience in our K-12 classrooms.
musical works and performances that set an international standard.
in-depth scholarship on both "third-world" cultures and an increasingly multicultural United States that is so essential in a time of great political and demographic change.
In addition, in partnership with the IU Foundation, the campus is using CTE funding to provide matching funds for four-year scholarships that will make it possible for Bloomington to compete successfully with other leading universities for high-achieving high school seniors as well as for academically meritorious incoming freshmen from needy families to attend IU Bloomington. In only 21 months, this effort has generated gifts and bequests totaling $97,984,988, which will help students from many different backgrounds — and with many different interests — obtain a world-class undergraduate education at Indiana University Bloomington. A parallel initiative has raised $36,554,869 for graduate fellowships, which will allow Bloomington to compete with other outstanding research universities for the most sought-after students.
Bloomington 2003–2006 Commitment to Excellence Allocations
Building the Foundation for a Third Century of Achievement
Establishment of a Comprehensive Program in Human Biology
$5,615,500 has been used to launch a comprehensive human biology program in Bloomington that will have added ten additional faculty members by Fall, 2006. These ten faculty members have been selected to build upon Bloomington's current research prominence in the life sciences and help forge a stronger research connection between the campus and the IU School of Medicine. These funds have also allowed the campus to staff new undergraduate degree programs in Human Biology and Biotechnology — which will address Indiana's critical need for a highly trained biomedical workforce — as well as a combined life sciences B.S./M.B.A. 6-year degree program. As reported at the June, 2005 Board of Trustees meeting, the first six faculty members hired were:
Kevin Collins, who specializes in the areas of patent law and intellectual property law, joined the Law faculty in Fall '04 and helped the campus create a Biotechnology emphasis in the J.D. program. This year, Professor Collins taught Patent Law and two new courses he created: Seminar in Intellectual Property and Survey of Intellectual Property. Professor Collins came to IU from the Stanford Law School.
Thomas James, who studies the role of the central nervous system in perceiving objects, joined the Psychological and Brain Sciences faculty in Fall '04 and is teaching Introductory Psychology and Laboratory in Neuroimaging Methods and Statistics. Professor James came to IU from the Object Perception Laboratory at Vanderbilt University.
Daniel Kearns, who studies the genetic basis for bacterial behavior, joined the Department of Biology last fall and is teaching Microbiology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Professor Kearns came to IU from Harvard University.
Tuli Mukhopadhyay, who specializes in viruses and viral disease, joined the Department of Biology last fall and is teaching Cell Biology. Professor Mukhopadhyay came to IU from Purdue University.
Sharlene Newman, who specializes in the role of the brain's frontal lobe processes in language, joined the Psychological and Brain Sciences faculty in Fall '04 and is teaching Cognitive Psychology and a new course she created: Neuropsychology of Language. Professor Newman came to IU from the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging at Carnegie Mellon University.
Nicholas Port, who studies how the central nervous system processes visual information and produces action, joined the School of Optometry last fall and taught a new course he created: Quantitative Data Analysis Methods in the Biological Sciences. Professor Port came to IU from the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health.
For next year, four additional faculty members have been added:
Joshua Brown, who studies cognitive performance, will join the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. He comes to IU from Washington University.
Melanie Marketon, who studies the interaction between plague bacteria and their hosts, will join the Department of Biology. She comes to IU from the University of Chicago.
David Nelson, who studies the biological function of bacteria, will join the Department of Biology. He comes to IU from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
Luiz Pessoa, who seeks to understand how cognitive and emotional brain systems interact in the generation of complex behavior, will join the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences as a tenured faculty member. Professor Pessoa comes to IU from Brown University.
Professor Pessoa will become a senior member of the faculty working with the new brain-imaging fMRI machine purchased with CTE funding. The machine arrived in July, 2005 and the facility was operational in September. An offer is outstanding to an imaging physicist who would manage the facility.
Finally, IU recruited the second cohort of students using the "Staffing the Life Sciences"; scholarship fund that is a collaborative venture between the Kelley School of Business and the College of Arts and Sciences. The program provides extremely attractive scholarships for students interested in pursuing the combined life sciences B.S./M.B.A. 6-year degree path, as well as summer internships with life sciences companies.
Development of 21st Century Interdisciplinary Science at IU Bloomington
$4,875,000 has been used to begin a broad ranging initiative in interdisciplinary science that will have added ten additional faculty members by Fall, 2006, with one additional offer outstanding. These new faculty are increasing interdepartmental cooperation in physical and biophysical sciences and developing cutting-edge technology that promises to spur broader collaboration with the IU School of Medicine and with Indiana industries. These funds have also allowed the campus to partner with the Crane Naval Station, Midwest Proton Radiotherapy, the Low Energy Neutron Source, Fermilab, and Jefferson Lab to staff a new undergraduate degree program in Applied Physics — which is preparing IU students for careers in high technology industries. As reported at the June, 2005 Board of Trustees meeting, the first seven faculty members hired were:
Dobrin Bossev, who seeks to determine molecular structures and characterize new materials, joined the Physics faculty in Fall '05 and is teaching the undergraduate Physics I and Physics II courses. Professor Bossev came to IU from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Richard DiMarchi, whose work focuses on novel methods of drug delivery, joined the Chemistry faculty in Fall '04 and is teaching Biological Chemistry, Analysis of Biochemical Literature, and a new course he created: Contemporary Topics in Biochemistry as Applied to Drug Design. In the last year, Professor DiMarchi received the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' National Achievement Award in Biotechnology as well as the American Chemical Society's Barnes Award for Excellence in Chemical Research Management. Professor DiMarchi came to IU from the Lilly Research Laboratory, where he served as Group Vice President of Biotechnology.
Amar Flood, who creates molecular materials that are the building blocks for chemical systems, joined the Department of Chemistry in Fall '05 and is teaching Principles of Chemistry and Biochemistry I. Professor Flood came to IU from UCLA.
Stephen Jacobson, who develops miniature instrumentation to study chemical problems, joined the Chemistry faculty in Fall '04 and is teaching Chemical Measurements and Laboratory as well as Chromatography. Since coming to IU, Professor Jacobson has received the Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer from the Federal Laboratory Consortium. Professor Jacobson came to IU from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Chen-Yu Liu, who uses ultra cold neutrons to provide high-precision measurements of new materials, joined the Department of Physics in Fall '05 and is teaching General Physics 2. Professor Liu came to IU from the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Roger Pynn, who uses neutrons to analyze molecular materials, joined the Department of Physics in Fall '05 and teaches General Physics 2 and Neutron Physics and Scattering. Professor Pynn came to IU from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he was Director of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center.
Malcolm Winkler, who develops antibiotics to battle bacterial resistance, joined the Biology faculty in Fall '04 and is the founding Director of the Biotechnology Degree Program. He teaches a new undergraduate course he created: Medical Microbiology. Professor Winkler came to IU from the Division of Infectious Diseases Research at Lilly Research Laboratory.
For next year, three additional faculty members have been added:
Lane Baker, who creates molecular materials that mimic biological structures, will join the Department of Chemistry. He comes to IU from the University of Florida.
Liang-shi Li, who seeks to understand the preparation and properties of molecular materials, will join the Department of Chemistry. He comes to IU from Northwestern University.
Paul David Polly, who uses fossils to compare structural change across mammals, will join the Departments of Biology and Geology as a tenured faculty member. He comes to IU from the University of London (England).
Cognitive Science: New Frontiers in the Interdisciplinary Study of Mind, Learning, and Intelligence
$2,006,531 has been used to make IU Bloomington a world leader in new forms of interdisciplinary study of the human mind by adding ten additional faculty members, launching a new Learning Sciences Degree Program, and integrating this program with the campus' broader Cognitive Sciences and Complex Systems and Human Computer Interaction initiatives. These faculty hires will encourage economic development through research and teaching that equips IU graduates to work in fields with an ever-increasing emphasis on information technology and prepares elementary and secondary school teachers and administrators to incorporate principles from learning sciences research into their schools. As reported at the June, 2005 Board of Trustees meeting, the first eight faculty members hired were:
Kenneth Hay, whose work focuses on assessing and evaluating the uses of technology in participatory learning environments, joined the Learning Sciences faculty in Fall '05 and is teaching Proseminar in Learning Science and a new course he created: Learning Science Apprenticeship I. Professor Hay came to IU from the University of Georgia.
Richard Lesh, who works with learning and problem solving in K-12 mathematics education, joined the Learning Sciences faculty in Fall '04 as Program Head and teaches two new courses he created: Learning Sciences and Teaching Elementary School Mathematics Problem Solving. Professor Lesh came to IU from Purdue University, where he was Distinguished Professor and Director of the School Mathematics and Science Center.
Youn-kyung Lim, who specializes in managing information in the design of interactive systems, joined the Informatics faculty in Fall '04 and is teaching the undergraduate course in Human-Computer Interaction as well as a new course she created: Usability and Evaluation Methods for Interaction Design. Professor Lim came to IU from the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Luis M. Rocha, whose specialization is modeling complex systems, joined the Informatics faculty in Fall '04 and is teaching the undergraduate Introduction to Informatics course. Professor Rocha came to IU from the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Peter Todd, whose focus is on the use of information in decision making, joined the Informatics and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences faculties in Fall '05 and teaches a new undergraduate course he created: Seek and Find: Search Strategies in Space and Time. Professor Todd came to IU from the Max Planck Institute in Berlin (Germany).
Alessandro Vespignani, whose works applies statistical physics to the analysis of spreading phenomena (e.g., epidemics), joined the Informatics faculty in Fall '04 and is teaching three new courses he created: Introduction to Complex Systems, Complex Systems Seminar, and The Simplicity of Complexity. Professor Vespignani came to IU from the University of Paris (France).
Larry Yaeger, whose work focuses on how computers might be made to act more like the mind, joined the Informatics faculty in Fall '05 and is teaching Introduction to Informatics as well as two new undergraduate courses he created: Information Infrastructure I and Artificial Life as an Approach to Artificial Intelligence. Professor Yaeger came to IU from Apple Computer's Advanced Technology Group.
For next year, three additional faculty members have been added:
Randy Beer, whose work seeks to understand how coordinated behavior arises from the dynamic interaction of an animal's nervous system, its body, and its environment, will join Informatics as a tenured faculty member and is helping the campus design the new undergraduate robotics teaching laboratory. He comes to IU from Case Western Reserve University, where he is Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Director of the Dynamics of Adaptive Behavior Research Group.
Melissa Gresalfi, whose work assesses and evaluates mathematics learning environments, will join the Learning Sciences faculty. She comes to IU from Vanderbilt University.
Michael Jones, who develops computer systems that learn to process language in human-like ways, will join the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. He comes to IU from University of Colorado.
This initiative has been very successful in attracting outside funding with over $2.6 million in research funding approved and another $3.1 million in funding pending. In conjunction with Professor Beer's arrival, CTE funding is being used to create and furnish a robotics teaching and research laboratory.
Understanding the Two-Thirds World: At Home and Abroad
$1,491,833 has been used to add 18 additional faculty members to create a research and teaching initiative focusing on people who reside in, or originate from, geographical areas outside the West. Often called the "third world,"; these areas actually constitute two-thirds of the world's population. These faculty members build on Bloomington's existing strength in languages and literatures and add expertise in strategically important "third world"; regions of the Middle East, Indian subcontinent, and Latin America. Funding has also been used to create a new undergraduate International Studies Degree Program, which has already attracted over 180 majors, and to create the Global Village, a residential living-learning center with a thematic focus on global studies. As reported at the June, 2005 Board of Trustees meeting, the first 10 faculty members hired were:
Akinwumi Adesokan, who studies West African literature and culture, join the Department of Comparative Literature faculty in Fall '05 and teaches Introduction to African Literatures, Introduction to Contemporary Litary Studies and a new undergraduate course he created: Cross-Cultural Encounters: Love and War Across Borders. Professor Adesokan came to IU from Cornell University.
Rubiana Chamarbagwala, whose work focuses on economic development and international trade, joined the Department of Economics in Fall '04 and is teaching the undergraduate course in Intermediate Microeconomic Theory and a new undergraduate course she created: Topics in Economic Development and International Trade. Professor Chamarbagwala came to IU from the University of Maryland.
Michael Dodson, whose specialization is South Asia, joined the History and India Studies faculties in Fall '04 and is teaching three new courses he created: Introduction to South Asian History, British Imperialism in South Asia, and Postcolonial Theory and Historiography. Professor Dodson came to IU from the Cambridge University (England).
Ilana Gershon, who studies anthropology of democracy, migration and multiculturalism in Melanesian and Polynesian societies, joined the Department of Communication and Culture faculty in Fall '05 and teaches three new courses she created: Communication, Culture, and Social Formations, Cultures of Democracy, and Performance in Communication and Culture. Professor Gershon came to IU from the University of Chicago.
Shane Greene, who studies geopolitics in Peru and the Andean/Amazonian region of South America, joined the Department of Anthropology in Fall '05 and teaches Social and Cultural Anthropology and a new course he created: Comparative Latin American Social Movements. Professor Greene came to IU from Florida International University.
Christiane Gruber, who works with Persian manuscripts to study Islamic art and architecture, joined the Fine Arts faculty in Fall '05 and teaches a new course she created: Persian Painting. Professor Gruber came to IU from Princeton University.
Sungok Hong, whose specialization is Hindi and Urdu language and culture, joined the Program in India Studies in Fall '05 and teaches Beginning Hindi, Second Year Hindi, Beginning Urdu, Second Year Urdu, and Readings in Indic Studies. Professor Hong came to IU from the University of Wisconsin.
Ho-fung Hung, whose specialization is social change in East Asian societies, joined the Department of Sociology Fall '05 and teaches Global Society, Politics and Society, Nations, States, and Boundaries, Global Politics and History, and Globalization and China. Professor Hung came to IU from Johns Hopkins University.
Ron Sela, who works in the history and historiography of Islamic Central Asia, joined the Department of Central Eurasian Studies Fall '05 and teaches Introduction to Central Asian History, Travelers and Explorers in Central Asia, Central Asia under Russian Rule, Sources for the Study of Central Asian History, The Central Asian Khanates in the 19th Century, and Nations, States and Boundaries. Professor Sela came to IU from the Hebrew University (Israel).
Michiko Suzuki, whose specialization is modern Japanese literature, joined the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures in Fall '05 and teaches Japanese Literature II, Third-Year Japanese I-II, Japanese Popular Culture, Modern Japanese Women Writers, Japan: Theories of Modernity, and The "Other" in Japanese Literature and Film. Professor Suzuki came to IU from Dickinson College.
For next year, eight additional faculty members have been added:
Lessie Frazier, who studies gender and modern politics in Latin America, will join the Department of Gender Studies. She comes to IU from the University of Michigan.
David Jacho-Chávez, who studies management and industrial organization in China and other developing countries, will join the Department of Economics. He comes to IU from the London School of Economics and Political Science (England).
Paulette Lloyd, whose specialization is in international coalitions and conflict, with join the Department of Sociology. She comes to IU from UCLA.
Luciana Namorato, who works with Brazilian literature and culture, will join the Department of Spanish & Portuguese. She comes to IU from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.
Sara Scalenghe, who is a specialist in the Ottoman period in the history of the Arab world, will join the Departments of History and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. She comes to IU from the Georgetown University.
Susan Seizer, who is the author of a well-regarded book on popular theatre artists in South Asia, will join the Department of Culture and Communication as a tenured faculty member. She comes to IU from the University of Chicago.
David Stringer, who is a specialist in the study of second-language acquisition, will join the Department of Second Language Studies. He comes to IU from Mie University (Japan).
Frances Trix, whose specialization is linguistics and culture in Muslim communities, will join the Departments of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and Anthropology as a tenured faculty member. Professor Trix comes to IU from Wayne State University, where she was recently awarded the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Distinguished Faculty Honors Convocation Award.
The Launch of the Second Era in the School of Music
$1,451,597 has been used to further solidify the Jacobs School of Music's position as one of the world's most important musical institutions by adding the first three of a planned four eminent master teachers in musical performance and by increasing performance opportunities for IU students. As reported at the June, 2005 Board of Trustees meeting, the first two faculty members hired were:
Jaime Laredo, a Grammy-winning violinist and conductor, joined the Music faculty in Fall '05 and is teaching Violin Performance. He now serves as President of the Jury of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, following IU faculty member, Josef Gingold, with whom he studied as a young violinist.
Andre Watts, one of the world's most celebrated pianists, joined the Music faculty in Fall '04 as the Jack I. and Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in Music and is teaching Piano Performance.
For next year, the School of Music has hired a third exceptional professor of musical performance:
Carol Vaness, one of the most sought-after opera sopranos in the world, joins the Department of Voice faculty next fall. Vaness performs regularly at the Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Chicago Lyric Opera, Gran Teatro del Liceo, the Salzburg Festival, and other leading theaters, opera houses and concert halls around the world. Her interpretations of Mozart's dramatic heroines, including Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Elettra in Idomeneo and Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, have been hailed as definitive, and she has become especially identifiable with the role of Floria Tosca. She performed the title role of Puccini's Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera in 2004, opposite Luciano Pavarotti, in the legendary tenor's final operatic performance. This hiring will further strengthen the Department of Voice, which was recently listed first among the "Top Ten Voice Schools in America" by Classical Singer.
In addition, CTE funding was used to increase performance opportunities for students by:
Co-commissioning the opera by Pulitzer-Prize winner Ned Rorem of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Our Town,"; which had its world premiere at the Indiana University Opera Theater on February 26, 2006.
Dramatically expanding the summer music festival headlined by international violin sensation and Jacobs School of Music alumnus Joshua Bell.
Showcasing guest conductors, stage directors, lighting directors, music directors, and choreographers.
Renewing Leadership in Arts and Humanities
$968,000 has been used to recruit the first seven new senior scholars to nationally-renowned arts and humanities departments that, with these additional resources, are poised to move to the highest levels of distinction. As reported at the June 2005 Board of Trustees meeting, the first three faculty members hired were:
Jennifer Fleissner, whose specialization is late 19th and early 20th century American literature, joined the Department of English as a tenured faculty member in Fall '05 and teaches American Literature 1800–1900, American Literature 1865–1914, and Literature and Society. She came to IU from UCLA.
Joshua Kates, whose specialization is literary theory, joined the Department of English as a tenured faculty member in Fall '05 and teaches Literary Theory and Criticism. He came to IU from St. John's College.
Edward Linenthal, who is a cultural historian specializing in religion in America, joined the Department of History as a tenured faculty member in Fall '05 and teaches Introduction to American Religion and Culture, The Holocaust and American Memory, Vietnam and American Memory, and Memory of Catastrophe. He came to IU from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
For next year, four additional faculty members have been added, with one offer outstanding:
Gary Ebbs, specializes in analytical philosophy, will join the Department of Philosophy as a tenured faculty member this fall. He comes to IU from the University of Illinois.
Christoph Irmscher, who is a highly prolific author of multiple books on American poetry, will join the Department of English as a tenured faculty member this fall. He comes to IU from the University of Maryland where he is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of English.
Eric Robinson, whose has an international reputation as an innovative historian of democracy in the ancient world, will join the Department of History as a tenured faculty member this fall. He comes to IU from Harvard University where he is currently Associate Professor in History and Classics.
Rebecca Spang, who studies eighteenth- and nineteenth-century French history and was the 2000 recipient of the prestigious Gottschalk Prize in History, will join the Department of History as a tenured faculty member this fall. She comes to IU from the University of London (England), where she has established her reputation, on both sides of the Atlantic, as a leading figure in French social history.
Patient-Based Research in Ocular Disease & Systemic Eye Diseases
$519,600 has been used to hire two faculty members who will strengthen patient-based disease research, forge a stronger connection with the IU Medical School to better compete for National Institute of Health funding, and offer a select group of IU Bloomington undergraduates the opportunity for internships in disease, as well as additional preparation for advanced training in medicine and optometry. The two faculty members are:
Nicholas Port, who studies eye movements and higher order neural functions, joined Optometry in Fall '06. He came to IU from the National Institutes of Health.
William Swanson, whose expertise is glaucoma, will join Optometry this summer. He comes to IU from the State University of New York College of Optometry.
A New Program in Interdisciplinary Environmental Sciences
$473,750 has been used to purchase scientific equipment for the Griffy Research Preserve Building approved by the Trustees in March 2006, and hire two scientists who bridge key disciplines in environmental sciences and serve as catalysts for collaborative investigations of the movement of natural and man-made compounds through our ecosystem. As reported at the June 2005 Board of Trustees meeting, the first two faculty members hired were:
Kelly Caylor, whose work seeks to understand how ecosystem change is influenced by such factors as climate change and land use change, joined the Department of Geography in Fall '05 and teaches Physical Systems of the Environment. He came to IU from Princeton University.
Todd Royer, whose specialization is land-water interactions on agricultural streams in the Midwest, joined the School of Public and Environmental Affairs in Fall '05 and teaches Introduction to Environmental Sciences and Introduction to Water Resources. He came to IU from Kent State University.
Competitiveness in Graduate Recruitment/Lower-Division Instruction
$420,933 was used to increase the competitiveness of select graduate sub-specialties and address growing areas of strategic importance to the College and the campus. Although the circumstances and needs of the different graduate programs in the College vary, the deployment of these resources is guided by a common goal of simultaneously improving competitiveness in recruiting talented students and the quality of lower division instruction. Additional Associate Instructors are being added to programs that are high-priorities for other CTE initiatives (e.g., life sciences, humanities) or that are in areas where we are lowering the undergraduate student-to-associate instructor ratios. Additional funds for Associate Instructor stipends are added in units where low stipends are a severe impediment to graduate recruitment.
This initiative has provided the following allocations with regard to additional semesters of Associate Instructor (AI) positions or to higher stipends:
- 4 additional AI semesters in Biology
- 8 additional AI semesters in English
- 6 additional AI semesters in Philosophy
- $115,936 for stipends in History (28% increase in AI stipend)
- $97,808 for higher stipends in Fine Art Studio (18% increase in AI stipend)
- $17,860 for higher stipends in Fine Art History (8% increase in AI stipend)
IU Excellence in Cybersecurity
$350,584 was used for three initiatives designed to leverage IU Bloomington's growing program in information assurance:
Raquel Hill, who develops security protocols and mechanisms for wired and wireless infrastructures, joined the Informatics faculty in Fall '05 and is teaching Analytical Foundations of Security. She came to IU from the University of Illinois.
Due to a failed search for a senior faculty member in the legal and policy area, to be hired jointly by the Law School and Informatics, the initiatives will employ two short-term visitors in 2006–2007. The search will continue with the goal of filling this position in Fall '07.
The Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research brought nine high-caliber speakers to the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses during 2005–2006. Their presentations were made available via live videoconference on both campuses and are now accessible via the center's website.
The addition of Professor Hill and the presence at IU of these leading researchers have expanded our curriculum in information security, expanded the opportunities for interested faculty and students, and enhanced the visibility of our cybersecurity program.
New Focus in American Studies
$70,000 was used to hire one additional faculty member to create a new interdisciplinary degree in American Studies for undergraduate students on the Bloomington campus:
- Kathryn Lofton, who studies American religious history, will join the Department of Religious Studies. She comes to IU from Reed College.
The project also supported the Initiative for Democracy Studies, which is a joint venture of the College, Law, and SPEA.
Establishment of a Department of Statistics
$66,000 was used to establish a Department of Statistics, create new courses and degree opportunities for students, and provide opportunities for consulting and collaborative work that will enhance the competitive status of IU Bloomington proposals for external funding. Over this past year we have created an organizational structure that will house the new department, recruited an internal candidate who will chair the department beginning July 1, 2006, and secured agreement to transfer the partial FTE of 4 current IU Bloomington faculty members who will work with new faculty to be recruited under this initiative.
Enhance Teacher Education
$40,000 to add four new faculty members this fall to support the already highly-respected teacher education program in the School of Education:
Andrea McDuffie, who completed her doctorate after many years as a classroom special education teacher. She has special expertise in language problems of children, particularly children with autism and comes to IU from the University of Wisconsin.
Meredith Park-Rogers, who completed her doctorate after many years as an elementary classroom teacher. She specializes in science learning of elementary school children and comes to IU from the University of Missouri.
Anne Ottenbreit-Leftwich, who specializes in the use of distance education for teacher development, will work closely with in-service teachers on using technology to improve student learning. She is coming to IU from Purdue University.
Elizabeth (Beau) Vallance, who completed her doctorate after many years as director of a major art museum, will join the art education faculty as a tenured faculty member. She comes to IU from Northern Illinois University.
Competing Successfully for High-Achieving Students and for Academically Meritorious Students from Needy Families
Undergraduate Scholarships
$2,978,463 has been used to provide matching funds for four-year scholarships to incoming freshmen to make it possible for:
- Bloomington to compete successfully with other leading universities for high-achieving high school seniors.
- Academically meritorious incoming freshmen from needy families to attend IU Bloomington.
- The Wells Scholars Program to prepare tomorrow's leaders.
The $2,978,463 in matching funds is being used to double the impact of qualifying endowments that have been provided to the Undergraduate Scholarship Program by IU Bloomington's alumni and friends since September 1, 2004. In only 21 months, private donors have provided gifts and bequests totaling $97,984,988, which will help students from many different backgrounds and with many different interests, obtain a world-class undergraduate education at Indiana University Bloomington.
Graduate Fellowships
Indiana University Bloomington has educated outstanding graduate students for over a century. These students are vital contributors to the teaching and research missions of our university, and constitute the scientific, intellectual, and artistic leadership of the future.
Because graduate students are so central to the life of all first-rank public and private universities, Bloomington faces increasingly intense competition to attract the best applicants. To compete successfully in this high-stakes competition, the campus must be able to offer strong fellowship support for prospective graduate students, many of whom are already burdened with college loans.
Recruiting the very best graduate students also plays a key role in helping to attract and retain the very best faculty members. Thus, the quality of our graduate students has a strong effect on the quality of our academic programs, which in turn determine the excellence of the education we provide for our undergraduates. Unfortunately, however, in recent years IU Bloomington's fellowship funding has lagged behind the support packages offered by other top schools.
To reverse this trend, $870,691 has been used to provide matching funds for graduate fellowships established since January 1, 2003. Private donors have provided gifts and bequests totaling $36,554,869 to the Graduate Fellowship Program to create fellowships that are highly competitive with those at other outstanding research universities and will greatly increase our ability to recruit the most sought-after students.
